Wood laminate flooring - with wheelchair

[Dashzap]

I need to replace the berber carpet in my son's room with something hard (allergies & wheelchair). I do not have much money to spend.

Does anyone have experience with different floorings and wheelchairs? How do they hold up?

I've heard IKEA flooring doesn't hold up.

thanks

 

[3mickeymom]

I have Shaw laminate flooring, bought at Home Depot. It was the least expensive grade. It shows some wear, especially under chairs. There are no major chips or buckles, just scratches and white wear marks around the edges of each plank. Not everywhere, just under the chairs really. It is 8 years old. It worked OK for us at this time in our family with three active boys and alot of traffic. Thinking back, I would probably put it down again.

 

[jedijill]

I put down Pergo from Lowe's in my house. My first renter had a son in a wheelchair and the floor looks perfect after they moved out....No issues. We installed it ourselves (very easy!) and saved a ton of money.

Jill in CO

 

[Dashzap]

I'm concerned with indoor air quality as well. Anyone used Dupont Greenguard?

 

[dancin Disney style]

They say that laminate wears like ceramic tile......I can safely say that yes, it does. I have Ikea flooring that is now 14yrs old and it only has 1 scratch. The flooring is on my entire main floor and we have always had young kids and dogs in the house.


BTW....the scratch is so minor you have to hunt for it and it's right in the middle of the floor in my hallway.


The key to good laminate is to get a thicker one.

 

[StephMK]

I recently put down Pergo from Lowe's in my family & dining rooms. It's only been down about a month but so far, so good. 2 dogs & 3 kids & busy traffic area has not shown any scratches.

I did purposefully go w/a darker tone with graining so that any damage would not be as noticeable. It was really easy to install.

 

[clm10308]

If you are on a really tight budget, you might try vinyl flooring. Last year, we put in a floating vinyl strip flooring that looks like laminate. We got ours from Lowes. My husband put it in three rooms by himself.

 

[nilseks]

We have dogs and I'm a pet sitter, so we have 2 different types of laminate in our house (in 2 different areas) because wood just isn't practical for us. Both have held up extremely well and have no scratches--one has been installed for 5 years, we have about 500 sq feet, and not one scratch. And here is why...
When I was choosing the laminate at Menards, I asked them if they had sample boards I could try to scratch. With both purchases, they had no issues with me trying to scratch a sample piece. If you take a car key and try to scratch them, you will find that some scratch very easily, and others not at all. One of the rooms we did was my craft room and I am rolling around in my craft chairs on that floor all the time (I swear I hardly stand up in there, I just roll from my shelf to my sewing table to the closet lol) and it has held up beautifully. Best part about it, it was only 78 cents per square foot! With the soundproofing roll, we spent under $200 to do that room and I kid you not, EVERYONE thinks it's real wood!

 

[beansmom]

When I was choosing the laminate at Menards, I asked them if they had sample boards I could try to scratch. With both purchases, they had no issues with me trying to scratch a sample piece. If you take a car key and try to scratch them, you will find that some scratch very easily, and others not at all. !

that is BRILLIANT!! we are building a yurt this summer and don't want to spend the $$ on hardwood but want something nicer than the plywood platform floor. I have picked a couple samples...I'll be scratching them in the morning.

 

[rascalmom]

We have dogs and I'm a pet sitter, so we have 2 different types of laminate in our house (in 2 different areas) because wood just isn't practical for us. Both have held up extremely well and have no scratches--one has been installed for 5 years, we have about 500 sq feet, and not one scratch. And here is why...
When I was choosing the laminate at Menards, I asked them if they had sample boards I could try to scratch. With both purchases, they had no issues with me trying to scratch a sample piece. If you take a car key and try to scratch them, you will find that some scratch very easily, and others not at all. One of the rooms we did was my craft room and I am rolling around in my craft chairs on that floor all the time (I swear I hardly stand up in there, I just roll from my shelf to my sewing table to the closet lol) and it has held up beautifully. Best part about it, it was only 78 cents per square foot! With the soundproofing roll, we spent under $200 to do that room and I kid you not, EVERYONE thinks it's real wood!

We don't have Menards here - do you know the brand of the flooring/product? We are thinking of doing our "mudroom" with something. It is really our laundry room and there is a doggy door in there that goes out to the back yard. Two dogs + lots of traffic. I want it to look nice, because it is right off my kitchen & den area. I don't want to do tile because the grout seems to stain from the red mud dogs always track in.